Buzzed by a Butterfly

Don’t let the bright yellow fool you. This frequent flyer is a maverick full of dangerous twists, drops, and turns.

He did a fly by of our backyard and dang near collided with my husband’s 6ft tall flight control tower.

I believe he described it as…..“It looked like a small yellow bird!”

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a rare yellow butterfly. I tracked its origins to being a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. It is hard to tell by the photos, but his size is incredible. He was at least three times bigger than the size of regular butterfly. I hear as caterpillars, they are pretty unique too. Mean and green about the size of small snake with eyes. Whoa.

We watched him in awe until he took to the airwaves again. Apparently, we were just a refueling station on his route.

Certainly, it is a rare treat for us to see a butterfly so different from the norm. We have TONS of the orange ones (Monarch), and many tiny-winged friends. But I haven’t seen a “small bird” size butterfly unless I was inside a Butterfly House at the State Fair.

Thanks Ron! I had a little help from my husband. He spotted it and helped hold the camera still. I guess this fella is a frequent guest after all. I saw someone else post the yellow swallowtail from my area and it buzzed by our window the other day too. Yay!

Thank-you, I do. It comes from my Father. Even though he has passed, I carry his love for nature deep in my soul. I didn’t start photography until after he died. So, when I am in nature, I imagine he is with me and enjoying the shots too. Funny, how something beautiful always comes along…